Allen v. Canopy Growth Corporation
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:23-cv-05891
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Allen v. Canopy Growth Corporation, Judge Swain ordered Columbus Allen, Jr. to pay filing fees or submit a prisoner authorization within 30 days.
Columbus Allen, Jr., an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the filing fees or submit the required prisoner authorization within 30 days; the case will be dismissed if he does not comply.
What happened
Allen v. Canopy Growth Corporation concerns Columbus Allen, Jr.’s civil lawsuit, which he filed without a lawyer while incarcerated. He submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The authorization would permit prison officials to send account records and deduct the $350 filing fee from Allen’s account in installments. The court gave him 30 days to either pay the total $402 in fees or submit the completed authorization.
The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that the action would be dismissed if Allen did not comply. Judge Swain also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Allen v. Canopy Growth Corporation · No. 1:23-cv-05891
- Paul Engelmayer
- July 11, 2023
Background
Columbus Allen, Jr. filed this civil action without a lawyer while incarcerated at California State Prison-Solano. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees, commonly called an application to proceed without paying fees upfront. He did not submit the separate prisoner authorization required for an incarcerated person seeking that status.
Under the cited statutes, the total fees for filing a civil action are $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. If the court permits an incarcerated person to proceed without prepaying fees, the $350 filing fee still must be collected in installments from the person’s prison account. The prisoner authorization directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and to provide certified account statements for the preceding six months.
Order
The court ordered Allen, within 30 days of July 11, 2023, to do one of two things: pay the $402 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. The authorization was to identify docket number 23-CV-5891 (LTS).
The court ordered that no summons issue at that time. It stated that, if Allen complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office’s procedures. If he did not comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and other warnings
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also cautioned that certain future dismissals could count as “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), potentially affecting a prisoner’s ability to file future federal civil actions without prepaying fees.
Disposition
This order did not decide the underlying claims against Canopy Growth Corporation or the other defendants. It directed Allen to satisfy the filing-fee and authorization requirements and stated that the action would be dismissed if he failed to do so. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.